[AN: This fiction is undergoing a rewrite. The existing chapters will be left up for readers to peruse, but this version of the story will receive no new content.]

For the late Cain Peyton, death was the only way out.

He was stuck with a dysfunctional family that seemed determined to push him away, with no clear end in sight. When the daily stresses of his life finally mounted higher than he could cope with, he took his own life. This is the story of how he died, and how he tried to live.

Because death was not the end. The peaceful oblivion he was seeking was ripped away as quickly as it came, and he learned that the world he knew was a speck of dust in the grand scheme of the cosmos. He would have to come to terms with his new reality, and it would force him to change in ways he never thought possible. Cain would learn new ways to love life, and new ways to hate himself. He would learn to face horrors that were a simple fact of life in this new world. And he would fight desperately to change the outcome of things far bigger than himself.

This is the story of how Cain tried to prove he was more than a speck of dust.

[Cover made in GIMP. Image taken from Unsplash, border taken from FreePNGimg.]

What do the content warnings mean for this story?

> This story will get dark. The prologue contains descriptions of suicide. The later chapters will contain examples of brutal combat, human rights violations, and more. The warnings for traumatising content and gore are the most applicable to this story. Profanity is included but not a huge focus. The only thing this story won't have is sex scenes.

Do you have a schedule in mind?

> I'm planning on writing when I feel like it and not forcing the words out to preserve this as an activity I enjoy and not a job I dread. That means no particular schedule, but I will announce it if I plan to drop the story or go on a hiatus. I have the most free time Friday through Sunday, and when life gets busy that may reflect somewhat in my pace.

Why did the synopsis/tags change?

> As I've written the beginning chapters of this story, I've been able to flesh out my ideas for it more fully. I changed the tags and synopsis of the story to reflect the direction I envision it taking.